1. Technical Field
The present invention relates generally to apparatus and methods for ink stamps, and more particularly to hand held ink stamps.
2. Background Art
Traditional hand held ink stamps typically comprise a varnished wood handle to which is fixedly attached a printing die, which traditionally is made of natural rubber. The person using the ink stamp makes the image simply by inking the printing die and pressing the printing die against a sheet of paper. The handle obstructs the user's view of the image that is being stamped, because the handle covers up the image.
In the ink stamping art, there are several needs.
First, there is a need for the person using the ink stamp to be able to see through a handle or a die mounting device, so that the user is able to view simultaneously both the page and the image that is about to be printed on the page. In the field of art stamping, i.e., where the quality of the stamping is important (as in stamping pictures and other artwork), the see-through capability raises the quality of the finished product by improving the accuracy with which images are Positioned on the page.
Second, there is a need for the printing dies to be readily attachable to, and detachable from the mounting device, so as to provide cost savings.
Third, there is a need to combine both the see-through capability and the detachability of the printing dies, with an ability to use the traditional natural rubber dies. The natural rubber dies have advantages over other types of dies such as plastic and photo-polymer dies including the fact that the natural rubber dies are typically more durable. Desirably the above described combination of features should be provided in an apparatus that is practical, versatile, and convenient to use.